Page 56 of Marlin's Faith

“Fuck me swingin’,” I uttered, leaning over, hands on my knees.

“Too, right,” Cutter agreed.

Too fuckin’ right.

28

Faith…

I bent over my knees and keened. I couldn’t stop crying. Hope kept talking to me, I could hear her voice controlled and even, I just couldn’t make sense of what she was saying through the mad jamble of panic going on inside my heart and head.

“Shut the fuck up!” the policeman bellowed from the front seat and I shut up, like flipping a switch.If you don’t do what they say, the will just rape you longer and hurt you more.The voice in my head was both practical and cruel, and worse… it was right. I looked at Hope and mouthed ‘I’m so sorry,’ but all she did was shake her head at me. Her dark eyes stormy and unreadable.

I stared out the grate in front of the window at the scenery whizzing by and felt lost. Marlin had let them take me, but he couldn’t stop them. I knew that. If he had, he would just be in trouble too and they would have separated us anyways. His brothers had done the right thing in holding him back, but a part of me feared I would never see him again.

I looked at Hope, both of us were handcuffed and neither could do anything to comfort the other, but leave it to my big sister to figure out a way anyways.

“’Mere Bubbles, lay your head on my shoulder.”

I did what she told me to do and I felt better. She kissed the top of my head and whispered, “It’s okay, I’m here. I’ll always be here. You just do what I do, say what I say. Okay?”

“Okay,” I whimpered brokenly and hated that the sound had come out of me.

“You gonna give us some hot lesbian action back at holding?” The deputy asked from the front seat and Hope scowled.

“Break your nose?” she asked. He scowled into the rearview.

“No, bloodied it good, and you’re gonna pay for it too.”

“Knew I should have gone for your balls, but if you’re making threats against defenseless cuffed up women, then I guess I made the right call the first time. You don’t have any.”

“Fucking little cunt, I’m gonna fuck you real good,” he threatened and I felt myself blanch.

“Gonna have to find it first,” Hope shot and I kicked her foot with mine.

“Hope, stop!” I hissed, afraid.

“Don’t worry, Faith. He can’t, and won’t, do anything,” she said and sounded absolutely sure of herself. I bit my bottom lip and we made the rest of the drive to the jail in silence.

We were processed, and it wasn’tasbad, because there were female officers in the jail and they, shockingly, acted professional. More professional than the deputies who had brought us in, but they were there too, for a while. Soon after our arrival, a man in plain clothes from New Orleans showed up. He spoke to one of the jailers in a deep rumbling Cajun accent and introduced himself as a detective.

“Joe!” Hope called out when she’d seen him, and she jerked her head in my direction. I looked at Hope and she gave me that silent look like everything was going to be okay. Her deep, dark, eyes saying without words that this Joe was on our side. I nodded and he asked me to stand up and to go with him.

I debated and he said low so no one could hear, “C’mon Cher, no one’s gonna do nutin’ with a big city type here. Hope can take care of herself. Let’s go talk.” I got up and followed him and he took me into a little box of a room with a table and two chairs. I sank into the one he pulled out for me, shaking.

“Now, I’m a friend of your sister’s,” he said gently, “An’ I’m gonna keep you in here as long as I can for her and away from those officers that brought you in…”

We talked and he was kind, though we did have to go over difficult subjects surrounding my captivity. When he brought me out, hours later, the sun had gone and Hope was still sitting, leaning nonchalantly in the same row of DMV-like seats, her hands cuffed in front of her like mine were. She had a split in the corner of her lip, and her eyes sparked fury, but she seemed otherwise unharmed.

“You alright, Cherie?” Joe asked her and she nodded. I sat down next to her.

Joe nodded, and sucked his teeth considering, he caught one of the officers by her sleeve and demanded, “What happened here?”

The female officer made a face and looked pointedly at one of the male officers across the room, “Resisting Babbineaux.”

“Uh huh, put ‘em in holding together. Might calm her shit down some.”

“Both of you come with me,” she walked us to a cell across from us and opened the big metal door. Thick glass left us visible to the room and she locked us inside. Hope stuck her hands out a slot in the door and the cuffs were taken off, then she motioned for me to do the same.

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